By Your Side
by Blanco
Summary: The life of fifteen year old Lily changes completely when she meets Tony Stark. She’s not like anyone he ever meet and a sudden urge to protect her becomes more real than anything he ever felt. Movieverse sort of
1. Chapter 1 A Mistake

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman.**

**Summary: The life of fifteen year old Lily changes completely when she meets Tony Stark. She's not like anyone he ever meet and a sudden urge to protect her becomes more real than anything he ever felt. Movieverse (sort of)**

**AN: Please keep in mind that for the story to work I had to change Tony's age by making him younger.**

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A young woman no older than fifteen stood in front of the immense arc reactor, looking out of place. She turned her head to her father who was talking with a younger, nervous looking man. Her father was the head engineer of the weapons developing team, and a very strict man for that matter, that didn't show his affection towards his daughter, or for anyone else.

She turned back to the reactor and took several steps closer. She was watching it with a both a nervous look and a look of fascination.

She didn't care she looked out of place, she didn't care that she looks like a little girl. She loved everything that had to do with science, and she loved coming to Stark Industries every time she got a chance, or every time her father would bring her. But the arc reactor was something new. She's never seen anything like it before.

She was too lost in her though to notice the man that entered from behind her, until he spook.

"Mr. Navodlom, I'm glad I caught you here, I have the latest plans for your new invention. The boys from researching gave them to me this morning. I want you to look over them."

She turned around and looked at the man front of her. Of course she knew him, who didn't knew him? He was Tony Stark. Their eyes meet but she quickly turned her eyes away from him and to her father. She was too afraid that with just looking at her he could tell how much she likes him. Of course she liked him, who didn't? But she wasn't stupid; she knew the reputation he had with girls, beside she was 15, he was 25. But that didn't stop her from liking him.

His eyes were sill on her looking at her. She was tall, slim, blue eyes, long black hair, she looked more like a model and she definitely didn't look 15. Not that he looked at her like that; to him she was nothing more than a little girl. Still he couldn't help but wonder what she was doing there.

"Mr. Stark?"

He turned back to look at Mr. Navodlom, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, well as I was saying here are some calculation and planes for you, if you could look over them, so we could get that out of the way."

"Certainly sir." The engineer said, as he took the papers and laid them on the table in front of them.

Lily slowly made her way next to her father, but stayed hidden behind him at the same time. She turned her head and took a look at the papers. After a moment her father took his eyes off the papers and spook. "Everything appears to be in order Mr. Stark."

"No, it's not, there is a mistake." Lily spook in a strong voice.

"Lily! I'm sorry Mr. Stark, this is my daughter Lillian. Lily I told you too..."

"What do you mean there is a mistake?" Tony said cutting short her father.

"Well, the calculations there, it's not taking into account the mass of the weapon, and if the calculations are correct that means that that would be a rather small missile."

Tony took the papers and looked at them for what seemed an eternity for Lily. Finally he turned to look at her with a smile on his face.

"It appears that your daughter was right, I'll have to take these and see what happened. And thank you for saving us from a disaster. I'm quite impressed you could see the mistake." With that he turned around and walked out the door giving Lily one last smile.

She could've stood there for the rest of eternity. She could believe that Tony Stark just said he was impressed by her. _Get a hold of yourself Lily, you didn't impressed him, he was just impressed someone so young could tell that mistake._

She looked around and noticed that she was alone with her father. So fast that she didn't even notice, her father grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"How dare you put me through such a humiliation? "

"I didn't do anything, I just though you should know the mistake."

"And do you think that justified making me like an idiot in front of my boss?"

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I just thought that..."

"Damn right you won't do it again because this is the last time you will ever set foot in here again. Now go and wait for me in the car."

With that Lily left the room with tears forming in her eyes. She shut herself in the car, covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

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Tony stood in his office overlooking the rest of Stark Industries. He was still thinking about the girl that he saw earlier, but something was different. He didn't think about her like one of the many women that he's been with. At least he didn't think he did. All he knew was that he was intrigued by her, and wanted to see her again. He turned back to his desk, turning his attention to the computer.

"Jarvis, I need you to do some research, please see what you can find out about Lillian Navodlom."

"Yes, sir. Lillian Adora Navodlom, fifteen years of age, high school student, graduating next year ahead of everyone in her class, honorific student. Daughter of Daniel and Marlene Navodlom, won several awards for horse riding as well as being her hobby, and has a passion for science."

"Passion for science, and she graduated ahead of her class. Jarvis do we have any open internship programs?"

"Not at the moment sir."

"Then make one and make sure to send it to Lillian Navodlom right away. Today to be more precise."

"Very well sir, and where would you like her placed?"

"I don't know yet, just put a note saying to come and see me first."

He knew he was getting into trouble by doing this but in that moment he didn't care.

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Lily was sitting by the pool with her best friend by her side, telling her everything that happened today.

"Did you tell your mother what happened with your father?" Her best friend Anna asked.

"No. What for? It would just be another reason for them to fight. I hate it when they fight." Lily seemed to be sad, so Anna tried to take her mind off things.

"But you meet him. You meet _him _right? Oh, my god, you MEET him! She yelled as realization sinked in.

Lily stared at her for a couple of second and started giggling.

"Is he as cute in real life as he is in pictures?" Anna asked curiously.

"Even more, but I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have pointed out the mistake to him. After all he is Tony Stark; he was sixteen when he graduated from MIT. What if he takes it out on my father?"

"Don't worry about that, beside what if something bad happened cause of that mistake? Anyway, you're fifteen and you're graduating from high school."

"It's not the same, he..."

"Excuse me, Miss Lily?"

"Yes Marion, what's the matter?"

"This was delivered for you just now." Lily took the envelope from Marion preparing to open it when she saw Marion was still there. "You can go now."

"I really don't like her. " Lily didn't noticed what she said as she was starring at the content of the envelope. "What?" Anna asked as she reached for the papers.

"No way in hell!" She said after looking at the papers. "You got an internship at Stark Industries?"

"I don't understand, I didn't _apply _for an internship."

"Oh my god." Lily looked put to see her friend holding a piece of paper?

"What does it say?"

It took Anna a couple of seconds to find her voice.

"Dear Miss Lillian, I was quite impressed with your quick observation today, and I am sure I'm not mistaken by sending this internship. Please come and see me and we can decide on all the details. Signed, Tony Sark."

Anna looked at her when she was done reading, seeing the shock impression on her friend's face.

"Are you going to accept it?"

Lily took the note from Anna's hands and read it over; making sure it said exactly what Anna told her. She looked at Anna and back on the note her expression unreadable.

"I don't know." She said looking one more time at the note. "I don't know."

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	2. Chapter 2 Internship

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman.**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews I received for the first chapter.**

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Lily opened her eyes staring at the white ceiling of her room. She turned her head to see the brown envelope still sitting on her night table. It's been a week since she received it and still didn't know if she should accept.

In that moment her phone ringed pulling her out of her thought. She looked at her clock which said 8:00 am.

"Hello Anna."

"How do you know it was me?"

"Because for the past week you called me every day at eight to find out what my decision was regarding my internship."

"Oh. I'm really sorry, you're right it wasn't my place to interfere. My god, what was I thinking? So...did you decided yet?"

"Anna!" Lily said exasperated.

"I'm sorry ok, but this is a really good opportunity for you. I don't want you waste it. I mean think about all the possibilities."

"You think I haven't? That's all I've been doing all week. Think."

"Lily, listen." Anna took a deep breath and you could hear she wasn't joking anymore. "This is what you've been waiting for, all your life. I know your father will not be happy with the idea of you working there, but Lily, it's time you stop thinking about what everyone else around you wants and start thinking about what you want. Your father will just have to deal with it."

Lily knew that everything Anna said was right. Her entire life all she did was make sure everyone but herself was happy. Maybe Anna was right. Maybe she should consider taking the internship.

Of course Anna was right. She was always right.

"You know what? You're right. Why not? All I've been doing all my life is to listen to my father."

"Yay, that means..."

"That means I'm going to go today and meet with Tony Stark."

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Lily got off from the elevator and started walking through the long hallways that led up to Tony Stark's office. Now and then people stared at her, but she tried not to pay any attention.

She was dressed in a plain black skirt and a simple white shirt. Not too girly but not too professional either. She stopped in front of a desk where, she assumed, was his secretary.

"Hello, I'm here to see Mr. Stark."

"Do you have an appointment?" The secretary said barely looking at her.

"No, but he is expecting me. I'm here for an internship."

"Uh huh, we don't have an internship opening at the moment."

"But I got this..."

"Sure, listen honey, why don't you go wait on one of the couches and I see what I can do. Mr. Stark is very busy."

Lily sat for about two hours. She had just about had it. That stupid woman didn't even call her back. She stood up to leave when the door from an office blew open.

"Jasmine, didn't I tell you to..."

He stopped when he saw Lily standing there in the middle of his lobby. She could see how surprised he was, but he quickly composed himself.

"Miss Navodlom, I thought you were never going to come. How long have you been waiting?"

"Not for a long time, just about two hours. Oh, but it was fun, staring at the same picture for two hours. What could be more fun?"

Tony just stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"Your secretary here didn't even believe me when I said you expected me, or when I said that I have an internship. So what is it Mr. Stark? Did you just call me here to make fun of me?"

"What? No, I...Jasmine, is it true that she told you who she was and didn't tell me?

"Well, it's just that we don't have any internship openings at the moment so I thought she was just mistaken."

"I don't pay you to just stand around and do nothing. I pay you so that when I have any messages or when someone comes to see me, you tell me. It so happens that this lady right here is a special guest of mine. Now, if it's not too much to ask, please bring us some coffee. We'll be in my office."

Jasmine gave Lily a hateful look, as she followed Tony into his office.

He took a seat and motioned to Lily to sit in one of the chairs. She looked up at him and saw him smile. It was a smile she knew all too well, from all the magazines she read about him. She smiled on the outside, but inside she remembered herself not to fall for his charms. She was here to ask for the internship he offered her and nothing more. She shifted so that her legs were crossed and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Well, now that I am here, would you mind explaining to me how I got an internship for something I didn't apply, Mr. Stark?"

"Call me Tony. I was so impressed that you were able to spot the mistake, that I thought it might be an asset to have you on my team. I know you will graduate this year, so I thought an internship would be good for you."

Lily didn't know what to say. She knew her father would be furious when he found out about her internship, but she also knew that this was the offer of a lifetime.

"I feel...honoured that you would choose me, and of course I will take the internship."

Tony smiled warmly at her. She didn't recognize that smile in him, and neither did he.

_What the hell is wrong with you Tony? _He thought.

He stood up from behind his desk. Lily did the same.

"Great. My secretary will take care of the paper work. In the mean time, why don't I show you around?"

They exited the office and immediately Lily felt embarrassed. Everyone stopped what they were doing for a second and stared at them. She knew that everyone was wondering why she was with Tony Stark, but at that moment she didn't care.

They arrived in front of the arc reactor, where Lily wasn't surprised to see her father. He was looking between Lily and Tony as if it was a hallucination.

"Ah, Mr. Navodlom, good. Lily and I already talk about everything. I'll be counting on you to show her and tell her everything there will be to know. Lily did tell you about the internship that was offered to her at Stark Industries I assume?"

Daniel rapidly recovered his straight face. "Yes, yes of course!"

"Great, I'll see you later Lily!"

"Thank you Mr. Stark!"

"What did I tell you?"

"Thanks Tony!" she said to him smiling.

Daniel waited until Tony was gone and pulled Lily into an empty room.

"Dad, please let me explain. He was impressed that I could tell the little mistake so he..."

She didn't have a chance to finish because in that second her father slapped her across the face. Lily was thrown back into the wall, hitting it with her back and falling to the ground.

Her father pulled her up and slapped her on the other cheek, but not as hard as the first one. He threw her back into the wall and walked out of the room. She once again fell to the ground, putting her hand on her cheek, but she didn't shed a single tear. It was not worth it.

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	3. Chapter 3 Friends

**So sorry for the long wait guys. Forgive me for any spelling mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman

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**Two weeks have passed since Lily accepted the internship. She didn't let what happened to her father get to her. She did see a lot of her father since they were working in the same building, but she tried to stay out of his way as much as she could. As for Tony, she felt more comfortable around him now. She stopped blushing every time he talked to her, she felt more herself when she was with him. They talked every time they saw each other, and in a way they even became friends.

It was lunch time when Lily finally finished her work. Even after two weeks she still had trouble finding the lunchroom. Stark Industries was so huge; she didn't know her way around. She entered the lunchroom with a sigh. Even now everyone kept staring at her, especially the women. Nobody knew who she really was and what her relationship with Tony was.

She laughed at the thought. _Relationship._ What relationship? The only reason she was there was because of a mistake, it wasn't like she had this secret relationship with him.

She had to admit that she was surprised by the Tony she got to know. She expected him to be in every way the playboy that magazines talked about. The cold heart billionaire everyone was so in love with. Instead she didn't. She saw someone who was lonely. Someone who cared about people.

She forced herself out of those thoughts as she went to buy her lunch. She looked around the lunchroom only to find out that the only chair free was at the table with all the secretaries. Lily didn't like them so much. They stared at her weird and she was sure they were gossiping about her behind her back. She sat down with her food, making a mental note not to look at any of them.

She looked around the room, and was relieved to find out that her father wasn't there. She made the mistake to look at the person in front of her, which was Jasmine, Tony's secretary, who was looking back at her with wide eyes.

_Great, what now? Do I have something on my face or something?_ Lily thought.

She was about to say something when she felt someone behind her. She was half expecting to be her father, but definitely not the person who was looking at her.

"What are you doing here?" Tony Stark asked in an annoyed voice.

Lily looked at him with confused eyes. "Um, eating my lunch?" It sounded more like a question.

"From now on you're eating lunch with me. Come on!" He took her tray and dumped it directly in the garbage.

"Hey, that was my lunch!" She said, getting up from the table and facing him. By now the entire lunchroom went quite and was looking at them.

"Too bad. You're going to eat lunch with me."

"Yea, right. Says you." With that she turned and sat back down at the table.

Tony was losing his patience. Plus, he was hungry. He took Lily by the hand, and dragged her out completely ignoring her protests. By the time they got to the car he was still dragging Lily by the hand, while everyone was looking at them.

"God, you are so _pushy_. I was perfectly fine eating in the lunchroom."

"Yea, well I wasn't, now get in, I'm hungry!" He said as he got in car. Lily stood where she not planning to move a single inch. He lowered the passenger's window. "Lily, I can take you by force, and if you make me wait any longer I swear I will!" He threatened.

"Whatever." Murmured Lily under her breath, getting in the passenger's seat.

The car seeded out of Stark Industries parking lot and quickly made its way through the busy streets. Nobody was talking in the car except the radio which was blasting at full volume, playing some rock song Lily has never heard before. She reached towards the volume button turning the music down to zero.

"Please don't turn down my music."

"Please don't turn down my pride. Why don't you ask to lunch one of those whores you have for secretaries?

Tony cracked a smile. "Why so bitter?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you use them to satisfy your other hunger."

"Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?"

"Please, as if I don't know you well enough Tony. I have enough problems dealing with everyone at work, plus my father, and now you. You're not helping my situation here."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to have lunch with you, that was all there was to it." Tony said looking at the road straight ahead, pulling into a parking lot of a very elegant restaurant, and killed off the engine.

From the corner of her eye Lily looked at him. She saw something she didn't see before. She saw the expression of a very lonely man who just wanted some company. She sighs and realized that maybe she was a little bit harsh on him.

She leaned forward and gave him a short kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you Tony." She said softly. "Now let's go, chop chop, I am starving since you threw my lunch in the garbage." With one last look towards Tony she got off the car walking toward the restaurant. Slowly a smile appeared on Tony's face, as he hurried to keep up with Lily.

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At 8:00 o'clock Lily was gathering her stuff and preparing to leave. She saw her dad walking towards his cars and she hurried trying to catch up with him.

"Hey, dad, wait up!" Her father stopped and turned to see Lily. "I'm ready, we can go home."

"If you got this internship by yourself without even considering telling me, then you can also find a way to get home by yourself and stop bothering me." With that Daniel left, leaving Lily all alone in the parking lot.

Tears were staring to gather in her eyes. She turned around ready to walk to the bus station, when she saw a black car pulling next to her. It was none other than Tony Stark.

He pulled down the window, trying to see Lily better.

"Waiting for your father Lily?" He asked.

"Um, no, actually he had another very important commitment, so I am just walking to the bus stop."

"Well, then get in. I'm not going to let you bus all the way home."

"No, Tony really, I'll take the bus."

"Absolutely not."

She was too tired to argue with him, so she just quietly got in as he pulled out of the lot. The entire drive was quiet, and Tony couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with Lily. She didn't say anything and kept looking out the window.

"Are you ok Lily?"

She didn't know why, or how it happened but the moment she heard that question she couldn't kept her emotions inside her.

"No. No, I'm not ok. My father hates me, he made that clear time and time again. He can't stand the sight of me, and he doesn't even mask his emotions. My mother is too tired to say anything or argue with him anymore, so she just gave up. She stopped being my mother a long time ago. The only person that I have in this world is my friend, the only person who cares about me. I don't have anyone, I'm lonely and I'm tired of all this." As soon as she finished she realized that her eyes were watery. She turned back to the window wiping her tears away.

"I'm sorry Lily. I had no idea. But I won't sit here and pretend that I know what you are going through. Or that I could begin to understand what it is your feeling. The only thing I can do is try to help you, and be by your side. I care about you too, you know."

She turned back to look at him and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Tony." He took her hand and held it there. A smile crept on his face, and very fast he turned the stirring wheel, making a U turn with the car.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Asked Lily.

"I want to show you something that I think you are going to like."

In less than half an hour they pulled up to an elegant and extravagant looking mansion. As soon as she got out of the car, she could smell the fresh air of the ocean and hear the loud waves crushing against the rocks below.

"Mr. Stark, welcome home sir." Lily turned around and saw a tall and dangerous looking man standing by a RR parked in front of the garage.

"Lily come here. This is my driver and bodyguard, Happy Hogan. Happy this is my friend Lily. If you can stay until she leaves and drive her home. After that you can go home yourself. Come inside Lily." Tony said as he gestured towards the door.

Lily went in curious but willingly. Once inside the house Lily couldn't help but be surprised. She has never seen such a house. Everything was elegant and perfectly located so that nothing was out of place. The structure of most of the wall was round and soft edged. A fountain waterfall was slowly falling by the main staircase; the view in the living covered the entire coast and the ocean which was expending beyond the horizon into infinity.

"Wow, wow Tony. That is all I can say. This is absolutely amazing; I never imagined such a house existed."

"I knew you'll like it. Jarvis?"

"Welcome home Mr. Stark. And welcome Miss Navodlom."

"That must be Jarvis? This is absolutely amazing." Lily said as she looked around, seeing every corner of the room.

"Well, you should feel honored. I don't invite a lot of close friends in my house."

Lily just turned and smiled at him.

After giving her a tour of the house and taking her down to his garage, which only she and Rhodey have ever seen, Tony could tell that she was more at peace and happy with herself. She and Jarvis immediately hit it off becoming friends, which was something new for Tony also. He didn't know he programmed Jarvis to have friends, especially human ones, but Lily was special.

They were saying goodbye, when Lily suddenly turned around.

"Thank you for today Tony. I really appreciate it." Just like she did earlier in the day, she leaned in giving him a small peck on the cheek. She turned and walked out, going into the car with Happy driving away.

He watched as she disappeared into the night, lifting his hand to the cheek which she just kissed, and smiling to himself. When he realized what he was doing he quickly dropped his hand and stopped smiling. He didn't know what was happening, but it didn't matter. He was Tony Stark and no matter what, he was still the same man that he always was.

With that in mind he crabbed his keys and seeded down the Malibu hills, not wanting, but still thinking of Lily.

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**I am so sorry it took so long guys. I was very busy this entire year and last year, but somehow or the other I promise you that I will finish this story now that I have more time on my hands. **

**Thank you all for the reviews and please review again, because more reviews make me write faster, resulting in a faster update. **

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4 Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman

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**Over the next six months, Lily had come to learn a lot about Tony. She learned that he hardly spent a lot of time at Stark Industries, but spent most of his time down in his garage working on new projects and developing more weapons. She learned that every night he had a new girl in his bed, sometimes even two, depending; though he never took them to his room, always to one of the guest rooms. By now, she began to know the routine of how to get the women out of his house.

Despite all of this, Lily learned to trust Tony. She trusted him with her life the same way he had learned to trust her. She came by his house whenever she wanted to, spending time down in his garage experimenting with his equipment, trying to learn more. Sometimes she would cook him dinner, knowing that most of his meals were takeout or eaten at some fancy restaurant. Every Friday night she would come by, and they would watch a movie together. They alternated between who would choose the movies, that way there was no possible fight between them. Tony made Lily watch action movies, while Lily, from time to time, would make Tony watch chick flicks and romantic comedies. This was a torture for Tony, which was the reason Lily loved it so much.

She began spending most of her time at Tony's house. She felt safe there; she felt herself; she felt at home. Her mother was barely home anymore. She'd spend most of her time out at clubs with her friends or going shopping. She was anywhere her father wasn't. Lily couldn't blame her mother for the way she was. It wasn't her mother's fault, it was her father's. She understood that her mother wanted to get away, away where he couldn't hurt her anymore. Her mother was so fragile that sometimes Lily thought she wouldn't bare another fight.

Her relationship with her father hadn't improved at all. Although he didn't hit her again, he was always cold, resentful with her. Her friendship with Tony angered him even more to the point where he would ignore her both at home and at work. He was acting as if she wasn't even his daughter. Sometimes she wondered how her mother ever married him, and how could she had his child if she hated him so much? These were questions that Lily asked herself often, and that, in time, she would find the answer to.

* * *

The next morning when Lily arrived at Stark Enterprises, she went directly upstairs to see Tony, only to find the office in a chaos. Phones were ringing off the hook, people were coming in and out of the meeting room, and secretaries were running desperately around trying to please a crowd of not-so-friendly looking business ladies and gentlemen.

"Hey, Matilda, what the hell is going on here?" Lily asked Matilda, who was one of the older, more serious secretaries that Tony had around the office.

"Oh, Lily, it's Mr. Stark. He had a very important board of directors meeting this morning that started an hour ago, and he's not even here. We were trying to reach him at home, but we can't seem to find him. I am telling you that Mr. Stane is not pleased," said Matilda in a very worried voice.

Lily turned around and saw a very tall, dangerous looking man about to explode walking around the office and shouting at his cell phone. She had a pretty good idea why Tony was not in the office yet. She turned back to talk to Matilda.

"Listen, Matilda, I've got a pretty good idea why Tony is not here yet. Would you like me to go get him and bring him here?" Lily asked.

"Oh yes, please Lily. You are a life saver."

Lily nodded at Matilda and left the office trying to find cab that would take her to Tony's place in record time.

* * *

Half an hour later she was thanking the cab driver and hurried inside the mansion. When the driver saw the mansion, his jaw dropped knowing all too well who lived there. Lily saw Happy sitting by the car. In his hand he had two dry cleaning bags with two women's articles in them.

She walked towards Happy and rolled her eyes when she saw the bags. "You do know Tony is late for the meeting, and that the board will kill him, right?" Lily asked Happy taking the bags out of his hands.

"I really tried telling him Miss, but you know how Mr. Stark is. He never listens to me," Happy answered back.

"Where is he Happy?"

"He's in his garage working on one of his cars."

"Fine. Have the car ready so you can drive the...Madame, wherever she wants to go."

Happy nodded and Lily left heading in the house towards the guest room. When she got there she loudly opened the door. The girl jumped up when she saw Lily there. Lily recognized her immediately. She was a new upcoming star model who had appeared on the cover of _Playboy _that month. She had big green eyes, long blond hair, and was wrapped around one of the bed sheets.

To say the least, she was surprised to see Lily there.

"I have your clothes here. They have been dry cleaned, and down stairs is a car waiting for you that will take you anywhere you would like to go," Lily said as she handed the woman her clothes.

"Where's Tony?" The blond model asked.

"Tony is not here. He never is the next morning. I thought girls like you could figure that out." The model did not look pleased and looked as if she wanted to kill Lily.

"Whatever. And what do you do anyway? Housekeeping?" asked the model.

"Me? I take out the trash," Lily said as she turned her back and walked out of the room, leaving behind one angry looking model.

When she descended down the stairs to the garage, she saw Tony's legs sticking out from under one of his cars. She slammed the door loudly making sure that he would be able to hear her. He rolled out from under the car and looked up at her innocently.

"You are in so much trouble, Tony," she said as she stood looking furiously at him.

"What? What'd I do? If this is about the model, let me say in my defense that she was the one that was all over me, though, that changed once we got here."

She just shook her head, not wanting to go into details with him.

"It's not about that. Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure it's not going to be the last, when I kick someone else out of the house. You have a board of directors meeting that was supposed to start an hour and a half ago, and let me tell you that they are not pleased with you."

The smile slowly left his face when the words started coming out of Lily's mouth. He started running up the stairs into his bedroom with Lily trying to catch up behind him.

"Why didn't you remind me?" he asked as he went into his walk in closet to change.

"Um, you might have forgot, but I reminded you yesterday at lunch, Jasmine reminded you when we left Stark Industries yesterday, and I told you again at dinner when we came to watch the movie. It's not my fault that you completely forgot about it in less than 24 hours."

In five minutes Tony came out looking sharp and clean in an expensive looking suit, looking ready to face the directors.

"Ok, tell Happy that we are ready to go," he said to Lily.

"Yeah, Happy is not here because he had to drive Miss Playboy wherever she wanted to go."

"Fine, we'll take my Audi then."

When they got to Stark Industries twenty minutes later, the directors all looked purple as they welcomed Tony, and he apologized telling them that he was caught up working on a very important project.

Lily slowly backed up and left smiling, looking back at Tony who saw her and smiled back.

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When she got home later that night, she was so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open. Her father, as always, wasn't back-probably working late-and her mother just left for a long trip to Europe with one of her friends, which meant that she would be gone for weeks.

She took a long shower letting the hot water run over her body, relaxing her. Some days, like today, were crazy, and she had to run back and forth between Tony's house, Stark Industries, and her school. Some days were slow and sometimes she would even get bored waiting to go home or have dinner and watch a movie with Tony.

As she was falling asleep that night, she though back at the power she had felt as she threw that model out of the house. Knowing that the blond had to leave and she got to stay, it made her feel important. It was like saying, _Yes, you got to sleep with him for one night, but I get to always be there by his side, always taking care of him and knowing him. _

In that moment the ringing of her cell phone made her fully awake and ready for anything. However she relaxed when the displayed call showed _Tony Stark Calling._

"What in God's name do you want at this time Tony?"

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked.

"What? What's that got to do with anything?" She questioned.

"Well, do you want to go to a charity gala? You get to dress up and everything. I thought you might enjoy it," he said.

She just might enjoy it.

"Sure, why not," she said smiling.

"Perfect. So, you can take the day off tomorrow to get ready. Don't women take, like, an entire day to get ready for these kind of events? Happy will pick you up and bring you to the gala, and I'll meet you there."

They said goodbye and she went back to sleep, thinking over and over in her head what she was going to wear and what other casualties and problems the party might bring.

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**Thanks for the reviews guys! One more chapter and things will get really interesting. I promise. Don't forget to review, the more the reviews the faster I update. If I get over four reviews I will update within this week. Also, thanks to ****FireStallion**** for being my Beta Reader.**


	5. Chapter 5 An Unforgettable Night

**Sorry for the long wait guys!

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The next day, Lily and Anna were browsing through the racks of the YvesSaintLaurant for a perfect dress for Lily to wear to the gala.

"I can't believe he asked you to go with him," Anna exclaimed happily.

"Ok, first of all, he didn't ask me to go with him, he just asked me to go, and, second, I'm not the only one going. Everyone from work is going. My dad included."

"Well, anyway, try and enjoy the night. Oh, found the perfect one," Anna said holding up a beautiful black and white dress.

Lily had to admit that the dress was in fact gorgeous. As soon as she tried it on, it was as if the dress was made for her. When she stepped out of the dressing room, Anna's smile became wider.

"Beautiful," was all Anna could say.

Lily turned around to look in the full length mirror. The dress was black and white combined together making it look simple yet elegant at the same time. It hugged each and every one of Lily's curves making her look taller and slimmer. It was the perfect dress.

"You're right. It is beautiful. I am not even going to look at the price. Plus, my dad is paying for it. He deserves it!"

Lily paid for the dress and thanked the salesperson for all her help.

"Ok, what are we going to do next?" Lily asked looking at Anna.

For a second they were both silent and they looked at each other as if reading each other's minds.

"Shoes!" they screamed together, linking their arms, walking towards the Jimmy Cho shop.

* * *

That night when Lily finished dressing and getting ready, she looked in the mirror making sure she didn't forget anything. Her long hair was done in big curls that fell down her back, the dress still as beautiful as it looked in the store and the shoes were a death trap, but a very stylish death trap. She didn't go crazy with the makeup, just a little bit, and she was wearing a small diamond necklace that her mother gave her for her birthday. She took one last look in the mirror, picked up her purse and went outside.

In front of the house Happy was already waiting for her. She happily smiled at him as he opened the door for her.

"May I say that you look very beautiful tonight," Happy said to her.

"Thank you!" Lily said as she slid in the car.

When they got to the gala hall, all Lily could do was look in amazement. The door of the car opened and a young man in a tux extended his arm for her to take. As soon as she got out of the car she was blinded by hundreds of flashing cameras and paparazzi shouting for her to look at them. Not stopping for any pictures she slowly made her way up the grand staircase and into the ballroom.

She had never seen anything like it. There were hundreds of tables all around the room and dance floor; each table had candles, crystals and white roses, all making it look elegant and majestic. On the dance floor people were already dancing, the men with their arms around their wives and dates, while the women looked stunningly beautiful in their long gowns and sparkling jewels.

Lily spotted their parents talking to a group of friends, and thought how ironic everything was. His father had his arms around her mother, while her mother laughed and joked at almost everything her father said. To outsiders, they looked perfect and blissfully happy, while, to Lily, they looked like the two most miserable people in the room.

Just as she was about to walked towards her parents, someone took her hand, and put it around their arm.

"You look beautiful tonight," Tony said to her as his lips showed a soft smile.

"Thank you. You don't look to bad yourself."

"Come on, Lily, I want you to meet someone very important."

They made their through the crowd of people, always stopping to greet someone. Every time they stopped, people eagerly asked Tony who Lily was, all of them obviously stunned by her beauty but not surprised to see her on Tony's arm.

Half an hour later they finally made their way to the other side of the room where a man Lily had never seen before was waiting for them.

"How long does it take for you to go from one corner of the room to another, man?" The man asked. "I've been starving for half an hour."

"Good thing you haven't decided on chewing the table cloth," Tony said. "Let me present you Lillian Navodlom. Lily, this is my best friend, Rhodey."

"Nice to meet you. Tony talks so much about you," he said as he shook Lily's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, too. Tony also talks a lot about you. I feel like I already know you."

Lily really enjoyed meeting Rhodey, and after a few hours she felt so much more comfortable around him. He looked like a great guy, and she could see that he also cared about Tony a lot. They all went and found seats at a table and enjoyed both the delicious food and the presentation that soon followed. Lily had a lot of fun hanging out with Rhodey and Tony, and she was surprised to see that Tony didn't ditch them for a blond model or something. Rhodey joked that it was because Lily was more beautiful than anyone tonight, and Tony was the jealous type. She playfully smacked him on the hand and told him to shut up.

It was past midnight when the party finally ended and the last guests went home. Lily was surprised to learn that her parents had gone home hours earlier, and that actually gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She knew something must have happened, because her mother told her that they would be driving her home.

In the end she got a ride from Tony, who was more than happy to drive her home. She quietly said goodbye to Tony and thanked him for the night, but he couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with her.

As she walked the path of her home the feeling in her stomach became stronger especially when she saw that all lights in the house were on. She took a deep breath before she opened the front door.

The first thing that she saw was that shattered glass was everywhere. Glasses and bottles had been thrown against the wall, along with anything else that was made of glass. She could hear screams coming out of her parents' room as she slowly made her way up the stairs.

"You're a miserable fucking bitch, that's what you are! You always go around flirting with everyone and make me look like an idiot, but it won't happen anymore. If you do it one more time, I am going to kill you, you bitch."

Her father was screaming at her mother as he paced around the room, while her mother was on the floor crying with a bloody lip. Lily stood there in the doorway to horrified to do anything, to scared to even move as she saw her father coming at full speed towards her.

"And you, you are exactly like her. You tramp!" As her father said that last word his hand hit Lily over the face, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. Before she could move, before she could even understand what was happening her father was down on her, hitting her with all his strength.

He was hitting everywhere, shouting words at her that she couldn't understand. Her ears were ringing, her head felt like it was exploding, and the pain in her body only continued to get worse. She didn't move, she didn't scream, she didn't cry as her father continued to hit her. With his fists he was hitting every single part of her body. His hands came down hard on her face; his fists were hitting her stomach at full strength. His legs started kicking her back and her stomach until she could no longer feel the pain.

In the distance she heard her mother scream, and suddenly her father was off her. Without wasting any minute she crawled from her spot on the floor, and as fast as she could, she ran to the nearest phone in the house, dialling the only number she could think of.

"Yo, Tony here," the voice answered on the second ringing.

"Tony? Please come and get me. I'll be waiting three blocks away from my house," she said, her voice barely above that of a whisper.

"Lily? What happened?"

"Please, don't ask any questions; just come for me, please."

"I'll be right there," he said as he hung up the phone.

Upstairs, Lily could still hear her parents hitting each other, and soon, she knew it, her father would come down the stair searching for her again. She quickly put her coat over her now blood stained dress, and ran out of the house.

With every breath she took she felt her lungs exploding and a pain in her chest that was almost unbearable. She was almost sure that some of the ribs were broken, and that she had a serious concussion. It took her twice the time to get to the spot where she was meeting Tony. She barely waited five minutes when she saw headlights coming her way. When Tony got out of the car he was too shocked to say anything.

"Lily..."

"Please, just get me out of here. I don't care where, just please."

As he got her in the car he was still too shocked to say anything. Her beautiful face was now covered in bruises and cuts, and blood was running down her face from what looked like a wound to her head. Her clothes were now even bloodier because of her injuries and because of the great effort that she made to get out of her house to meet him.

By the time they got to the hospital she was barely breathing, and she was now in a state of unconsciousness. As soon as the doctors and nurses saw Tony walking though the ER doors with her, they took her from him, fussing over her, everyone shouting different orders to each other. They told him to wait in the waiting room, saying that they would inform him when they had any news.

Two hours later, a doctor finally came out of the surgery room. Tony shot up like an arrow, waiting to see what the doctor has to say.

"Are you family of Ms. Navodlom?" the doctor asked looking through some papers.

"Yea, yea, how is she?" he asked too tired to even say he wasn't family.

"Well, she had four broken ribs, a severe concussion to her head, not to mention mild injuries all over her body. If you would have gotten here with her any minute later, she wouldn't have made it. Right now she is resting in a private room, and you are free to visit her. We will have to keep her here a couple of days just to make sure that everything is good. After that, you will be able to take her home."

Before Tony could even think of taking her home, he first had to figure out what it was that got her into the hospital in the first place. He thanked the doctor for everything and slowly made his way to Lily's room. When he went inside she was awake, staring at the ceiling, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, you look smashing," he said as he sat down next to her, trying to make her smile. And it worked, as he saw a tiny smile on her bruised face.

"Yea, I look really smacked don't I?" She even laughed, and quickly put her hand on her face trying to wipe away the tears.

Tony's smile slowly faded from his face as he took Lily's hand in his own.

"Lily, I need to know what happened. You need to tell me the truth. You could have been killed; you could have been dead by now."

"Oh, Tony. What is the point? Nothing happened, I just...it was my fault really. "

Hearing her saying these things made him even angrier. He couldn't believe that after what she had been through, she would still think it was her fault.

"I know it was your father, Lily. You have to tell me the truth. If you don't, right now, I will go and put a charge against your father, and I will make sure that he will spend the rest of his life in jail," he said as he got up and headed towards the door.

Seeing as serious as he was about what he was saying, Lily quickly grabbed his hand begging him not to go.

"No, please Tony. I will tell you everything, just please don't go anywhere. Don't leave me," her voice was barely above that of a whisper.

With all the pain in the world she told him everything that happened between her parents and how she got to be in the hospital. With every new sentence that Lily said, Tony's face got angrier and angrier. By the time she finished her story, new tears were covering her face.

"I've never seen him so angry. I mean, in the past the worst that he did was slap me across the face, but I never before ended up in the hospital. It was terrible, it was horrible, Tony. I don't want to see them; I don't want to see either one of them ever again."

"Don't worry, you won't have to. I'll make sure of it. You'll be safe," he said in a soft, calming voice.

"Don't leave me," she whispered to him again.

"I won't, I promise. I'll always be by your side."

She slowly nodded her head, and slowly she closed her eyes, drifting into a place where nothing and no one could hurt her.

* * *

**Thank you all for all the reviews and support. I'll try and have the next chapter up soon, but I can't promise anything because I have my final exams at school.**

**Also I would like to thank ****FireStallion for being my Beta Reader and doing a wonderful job at it. **

**Please review!!**


	6. Chapter 6 Leaving

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ironman.

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The six months passed fast for Lily. After she was discharged from the hospital, Tony didn't let her return to her home – not that she wanted to – and so he took her to his mansion. After the first month she got used to it, and her injuries slowly started to heal. She went back to school, though she never returned back to Stark Industries because she was scared she might meet with her father.

Her parents were a whole different story. She hadn't seen either of them since the night of the beating, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. It took days to convince Tony not to say or do anything against her father because it was her wish. After many arguments he finally agreed to it . The only thing Tony did say to Daniel Navodlom was that his daughter was staying with him from now on, and that if he wanted to keep his job, he better agree with it and not talk or get close to Lily ever again.

Lily knew her father loved his job and he wasn't going to jeopardize it because of her. She understood that. But she didn't understand why her mother hadn't bothered to see her. That's what hurt the most.

She mostly tried to forget about it and focus on other things. Anna came often to visit her, and she would stay for hours. She just loved it there. Anna loved everything that had to do with Tony's house. Rhodey often came too, and he would talk to her for hours. She discovered that he was a good friend, a friend she could count on.

One late afternoon when Tony came from work, Lily was waiting for him in the living room with an envelope and a stack of papers.

"Hey, what's all that?" he asked pointing to the papers in front of her.

"I need to talk to you about something; it's more like a deal really, but hear me out."

"I'm all ears," he said as he untied his tie and sat down beside her.

"Tony, I'm really grateful for everything that you did for me, but I cannot stay here anymore. I need some time alone. I need to get away and forget about everything that happened. I need a clean break." She made a quick pause, took a big breath and continued talking.

"I have been thinking, and I came to the conclusion that I need to leave. If you could help me and send me away to study for a couple of years, then when I finish I will come and work for Stark Industries. That's my deal," she said looking at him in the eyes.

"Are you sure that that's what you want to do?" he asked making sure that she wasn't going to regret it later.

She slowly stood up and walked to the window, looking at the California sun slowly sinking into the sea.

"Tony, I really appreciated everything that you have done for me, for letting me stay here and most importantly for being there for me, but I can't continue living here forever, and going back to live with my parents is out of the question." She turned back to face him, a smile playing on her lips. "This is something that I want."

He let out deep breath and took the papers from the table. "If this is what you want, then I am not going to go against it."

"Thank you, for everything." She walked up to him, and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before going upstairs for the night.

He was left there in the big, empty room thinking how lonely the house would feel without her there, thinking how he would get used to her not being there.

* * *

For the next couple of weeks, Lily's life was in a chaos. She was running from here to there, always finding one more thing to take care of, one more paper to fill, and one more phone call to make. She barely had any time to pack or any time to herself.

It was the week before she was leaving, and she wanted to make sure that everything was in order when she left. Her only, biggest concern was Tony. Of course he would have Happy and Rhodey to take care of him; even Jarvis would try and help, but she knew that he needed someone to keep him on track, someone who would make sure he ate and sleep, and make sure he didn't miss his company's meetings.

In that week she interviewed hundreds of girls who were interested in the job, but not for the reasons Lily wanted. She was ready to give up. It was the last day of the interviews and she was down to the last girl. She doubted she would find her now.

When she saw the last girl standing the hallway, however, she was quite optimistic. The girl didn't seem to be like the others. She looked honest, intelligent, serious, and she wasn't freaking out about the fact that the job was being Tony Stark's personal assistant.

"Virginia Potts?" Lily asked, and the woman nodded her head.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Lillian Nadovlom, and I will be interviewing you. Come on in!"

In the short half hour that the interview went on, Lily was very pleased about the things she learned about Pepper. The girl told her that almost everyone called her Pepper seeing as she didn't like to be called Virginia. By the end of the interview, Lily was sure that she was going to give Pepper the job.

"Why don't we go for a coffee? I'm done here anyway, and there are many things that I need to tell you about your new job."

"Of course, that's a great idea. Thank you so much for giving me the job," Pepper told her and Lily could tell that she was being honest.

"Well, I can tell you that it's not going to be an easy job, but don't give up. In time you'll get used to Tony and his way of doing things," Lily told her. After all, who knew Tony better than she did?

* * *

Later that night when she got back to mansion she had only one thing left to do: tell Tony about his new assistant. He wasn't going to be happy about it, but he had no choice.

As always, she found him in the garage working on his cars.

"Hi, how was your day?" she asked smiling at him like always.

"Actually, it was kind of boring. How was yours?"

"Busy. Not to mention that I've got a million things to do before I leave."

"Have you talked to your parents about leaving?" he asked going back under his car.

"With my father, no. I don't exactly care what his opinions are on the subject. As for my mother, I called her a couple of days again. She wished me luck and hung up the phone. Quite the supporter, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry Lily," he said quietly.

"Don't worry, I'm over it."

They sat for a minute in silence before Lily broke it.

"Tony..."

"Yeah."

"I thought that this might be a good time to mention that I hired a personal assistant for you to take care of things when I'm gone," she said talking faster then she normally did.

"You did what?" he asked her, not wanting to believe it.

"I hired someone to take care of things that I usually took care of. But don't worry; she's a girl, though she's not going to be someone you can sleep around with. I made sure of it. She's going to arrange your schedule, keep you on track, make sure you don't step too much out of line, and yeah, I instructed her on how to get rid of all your..._girlfriends_ that you bring back to the house," she finished with a smile.

He mumbled something that was not understandable and went back to his car while Lily, smiling, went back upstairs.

* * *

On the day of her flight Lily got up early, made sure all her bags were packed and that everything was in order. It was Pepper's first day as well, and she got there on time preparing to meet her new boss. Tony was still not very happy with this idea, but he didn't have a choice but to accept it.

They packed all of Lily's bags in the car, and were ready to go when Lily turned back to the house.

"Well, good luck Pepper. You're going to need it," she told the redhead assistant

"Happy, I am really going to miss you," she told him as he went to give the big driver/bodyguard a hug. "Take care of Tony," she whispered in his ear. Jarvis? I'm really going to miss you greatly. Make sure you take good care of the house." "Of course, Miss Navodlom," the programmed computer voice said.

By the time they got to the airport they were already running late. They quickly checked in her luggage and went to the terminal where Rhodey was waiting for them.

"You know, if you would've accepted to use one of my planes, you wouldn't need to run late. It's the benefit of having your own plane. It can't take off before you arrive," he said to her half smiling and half serious.

She just gave him a stern look before she went and gave Rhodey a hug.

"I'm going to miss you Lily!" Rhodey told her.

"Oh, I'm gonna miss you, too, Rhodey. But don't worry. I promise I am going to write and callas often as I can."

She gave him one last hung before turning to face Tony.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me. I'll always remember it," she said as she hugged him, holding him as close to her as she could.

After a minute she slowly pulled away, smiling, hiding the pain she felt when she was thinking she was going to leave him. She gave him one last kiss on the cheek before turning her back, walking towards the plane. She walked away from him, and kept walking towards her plane, not once turning around to look at him.

He was left there looking after her, and then looking after her plane as it took off into the sky. He stood there in the airport, left with nothing but the feeling of her lips on his cheek. As he walked back to his car he stopped to look up at the sky one last time, and wondering when Lily would come back to him.

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**Thank you all for the reviews. I hope you liked this chapter, even though I had a bit of a writers' block.**

**Please review seeing as more reviews make me more happy and more hyper about wanting to write as fast as possible. I should have the last chapter up pretty soon. **

**Cheers! **


	7. Chapter 7 Surprise

_**Six Years Later **_

That day Tony woke up with the biggest headache he had in years. As he slowly got out of bed, he felt as if his head was forced open and hot lava pored inside. He turned his eyes to the sleeping figure next to him, trying to remember her name, or at least how she got in his bed. But the truth was that he didn't actually care about any of that information. He walked to his garage where Pepper was waiting for him with a big cup of black coffee and a bottle of Advil.

"Thanks, Pepper," he murmured as he gulped down three Advil.

"You're welcome. Now, before I go I want to remind you that tonight is the party for Stark Industries anniversary, but I'm sure didn't forget that. Apart from that, you have nothing else today seeing as everyone is busy about the party. Make sure you're ready by 9 o'clock," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he mumbled back to her. "Hey Pepper, did anyone call or leave any messages for me?"

Pepper sighed turning back to Tony.

"No, Tony, Lily did not call. You've been asking that same question every morning."

By the look on his face Pepper could tell that he was not happy with the answer, but that was the ugly truth.

"Tony, it's been six years since Lily left. Six. You can't expect her to call you every minute of every day. She's not a little girl anymore. She's what, twenty two years old? She can take care of herself." With that she turned her back on him and exited the garage.

Just as she got into the living room her Blackberry started to ring for the hundredth time that day, but as soon as she saw the number on the screen, she quickly picked up.

"Hi! Yes, everything is ready. No, don't worry. I didn't tell him anything. Rhodey will be there as well. Yeah, ok, see you tonight." With a smile on her face she left the house thinking what a surprise Tony will have tonight.

* * *

By nine o'clock Tony was ready and looking sharp in his tuxedo, ready to go. He didn't feel like having a date tonight, but he was sure he wasn't going to come back to the house alone.

Hundreds of flashing lights were blinding him when he got there, but he didn't stop for any picture and quickly went inside. He looked around at the hundreds of people inside the room, each one of them laughing, eating, drinking and enjoying the company of each other. In a corner talking to a group of people were Lily's parents happily laughing and having their arms around each other. He couldn't believe that after everything that happened they were still together. The play they put up for friends was so sickening he had to turn away from them.

He found Rhodey sitting at the bar drinking a whiskey while talking to some people Tony had never seen before.

"How are you doing there, platypus?" Tony asked him.

"Man, how many times have I told you not to call me that? Especially not in public."

"One too many times. What are you doing here? You usually don't like gatherings like this," Tony said taking a sip of his drink.

"Well...I...I...I'm waiting for someone," Rhodey said, Tony not a hundred percent convinced.

"Yeah, ok. Well, anyway, have you heard anything from Lily lately?" Tony asked.

"Lily? No, I haven't heard anything from Lily," Rhodey said taking again a sip of his whiskey.

"I don't get why she didn't..." Tony broke off in mid sentence when he saw that Rhodey was no longer paying attention to him but looking at the entrance door completely dumbstruck.

Tony turned around to see what Rhodey was looking at so intensely. The girl that just walked in was searching the room, but as soon as she saw Rhodey and Tony her eyes stopped on them, her smile becoming bigger. The girl had long black hair and was wearing a backless, black dress. As she made her way through the room, more than one of the men turned slightly to look after her.

As soon as she got in front of Tony she paused for a moment looking at him before she put her arms around his neck and giving him a hug. At that moment Tony's brain shut down. In his head he was going through all the women he had ever slept with, convinced that if he ever slept with her he wouldn't have forgotten. The girl pulled back from the hug and looked at him for a second seeing his confused eyes.

"I know I have been gone for six years, Tony, but I never thought you would forget me so fast. Rhodey, why don't you give him a little help?" she said as she turned to Rhodey, giving him also a big hug.

"Lily! Oh my God, it is so good to see you again. You've been gone way to long," Rhodey told her.

It took a second for Tony to realize what they were talking about. He looked at her again, finding it hard to believe that the woman that was standing before him was the same girl he saw leave the airport six years ago. This time it was him who pulled her in for a hug, not caring about the fact the by now the entire room was looking at them.

"You're back," he stated. "Why didn't you call to tell me you were coming back?" he asked her in a tone what sounded as if he was accusing her.

"I called Pepper and Rhodey to tell them, but I wanted to give you a surprise. And I think I did it. You should have seen your face."

"That wasn't very nice," he told her pretending to look hurt.

She laughed. "I'm sorry. I promise that the next time I come back from somewhere, I will tell you ahead of time," she told him. "I really missed you Tony."

She looked around the room before turning back to Tony and Rhodey. "So how have you guys been? Where's Pepper?" She asked them.

As if right on cue Pepper came out of nowhere.

"Hi, Lily, I see you're already here. Tony, I know you hate this part, but you really need to take some time and go around greeting and talking with everyone. It's good for the image," Pepper told him.

"Aw, do I really have to?" he asked her, winning like a twelve year old.

"Come on, Tony, let's go," Lily said to him, putting her arm through his.

"Well, I guess if I have you to suffer with me, it's better," he said as she smiled at him.

"Bye, Pepper. Bye, Rhodey," Lily turned and said to them.

"Bye."

"Bye you two."

For the next hour Tony and Lily kept walking around the room to everyone. Each one of them wanted to know who Lily was, but each time Tony ignored their questions and passed her off as a friend.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw a group of people laughing and chatting happily. She slowly dragged Tony towards that corner. When Tony realised where she was going, it was too late to drag her away.

"Good evening, everyone!" Lily said sounding polite and sweet, her eyes locked on her parents. Lily's mother began to tear up while her father was looking as solemn as ever. Some of the people in the group were looking between them with curiosity.

"I don't think any of you have met my friend, Lillian Navodlom," Tony said. Lily slightly turned her head smiling at each person of the group.

For the next half an hour people bombarded Lily with questions about her, and what she was doing. She told them she lived most her life in California, but she had just recently come back from England.

"And what is it that you do, Ms. Lily," asked one of the older men.

"Well, I..."

"As of tomorrow Lily will start at Stark Industries as a weapon developer, actually," Tony said as he gave Lily a knowing smile. "So, you can expect to see her there."

"I hardly believe a graduate would be qualified for the position Mr. Stark. I'm sure she won't know the pace of things among the other developers," said Lily's father.

"Oh, don't worry Mr. Navodlom. Lily won't have to keep up with the other workers. I think you didn't understand what I said. Beginning tomorrow your daughter will be your new boss, Mr. Navodlom. You will have to report to her, and if anything is _wrong," _Tony accentuated that word, "she will report it to me. Have a good night gentlemen...ladies."

With that, he took Lily by the hand leading her away from the group of people that were now staring surprisingly after them.

"You didn't have to do that you know," Lily said to Tony. They were now standing on the balcony admiring the beautiful view that LA provided in the dark.

"Did you forget our agreement? Once you came back you would work for Stark Industries. That was our deal."

"Yes it was, but I didn't expect you to give me such a high position. Especially the one of being my father's _boss_," she said to him.

In that second two girls passed them, giving evil stares at Lily, ready to throw her off the balcony.

Lily started laughing, earning a very confused look from Tony.

"I feel like all the women in this place are going to gouge my eyes out right now and possibly kill me slowly and painfully," she said still laughing. Everything happened so fast. One minute she was leaning against the balcony the next she was against Tony's chest.

"Don't worry. I will not let anything or anyone hurt you. I promise. Not even your father," he told her, his lips against her hair.

"You also seem to forget that I am no longer that little girl I was when I left."

"No, you're not that little girl anymore."

She slowly lifted her head up, her eyes meeting his. She closed her eyes, leaning forward, pressing her lips to his. The moment their lips meet, she let out a deep breath, slightly parting her lips for more. Her arms locked around his neck, while his arms went around her waist. He brought her closer to him, encircling her small body in his arms.

Lily could feel the kiss turning from something gentle and smooth to something fierce and passionate that she was sure neither of them was able to control. She pulled away from him, licking her lips, giving him one small kiss on the check.

"Have a good night Tony," she whispered in his ear. She smiled at him before turning her head and walking out the door.

Tony tried to calm himself, but it was difficult seeing as he could still taste her lips on his. He turned back to the millions of lights shimmering in the distance, thinking that among all the kisses he had in his life, that was the most fulfilling one of them all. He turned back inside thinking that tomorrow might the best day he ever had in his life.

* * *

**Thank you for all the reviews. I had trouble writing this chapter that is why it took such a long time. Thanks for the support and don't forget to review. **


	8. Chapter 8 I Am With You

The airport's door quickly opened and closed. A man in his mid twenties stepped through the door stopping to look around the busy airport. A quick smile formed on his lips as he exited the airport hailing a cab.

"To Stark Industries please," he said to the driver.

* * *

Sitting in her office at Stark Industries, Lily was going through every single report that her team of engineers gave her that morning. As their new boss she couldn't say she felt exactly welcomed. People were still giving her the "what the hell" look when she passed them or even when she asked them for something. Her father was as bad as always. He never once said a word to Lily, and she was fine with that. She wasn't exactly anxious to start a conversation with him.

She was going through the last stack of reports on her desk when she heard her secretary calling her.

"I'm sorry to bother you Ms. Navodlom, but Mr. Stark is here, saying that he is waiting for you to have lunch with him," her secretary's loud voice came through the phone.

Lily let out a big sigh. Since that night one week ago, she hadn't really had any time alone with Tony, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Thinking back on that kiss she didn't know what came over her. It wasn't as if while in London she didn't meet and spend time with anyone. Over the years she became emotionally detached from relationships, and she knows how to get men to play by her rules.

But with Tony it was different. 'All those years away from him', she thought that at least she would have gotten over him, and she hoped that that kiss would prove her right. Wrong! If anything, it proved her very very wrong. She still had feeling for him, and she was afraid of where those feelings might lead her. It wasn't as if she didn't know his way with women. God knows how many women she had to kick out of his house and his bed.

"Well, tell Mr. Stark that I cannot come to lunch seeing I have so many papers to go over. Moreover, tell him it's his bloody fault that I have so many bloody reports to read," she said, almost shouting the last part of the sentence.

"Well, you're in a sour mood," someone said from the door.

Lily didn't even bother looking up knowing all too well who it was. "And whose fault is it that I am in a sour mood?"

"Certainly not mine. Come on leave your papers on the table and I will have Pepper take care of them," he said.

He didn't even give Lily the chance to protest as he walked across the room grabbing her hand and bag in the process.

"Tony, you can't honestly expect me to let Pepper do my work for me," she argued with him.

"Don't worry Lily", said Pepper who was now standing outside the door, "after all these years organizing Tony's stuff I will finish your reports in ten minutes!"

"See, problem solved," Tony pointed out to her, "now let's go eat!"

By the time they got to the lobby, Lily was still mad at Tony, and for once she wasn't going to let him get away with it. She stopped abruptly, which made Tony bump into her.

"You know what, you need to get through your head that you can't always have your way, and you can't always force people to do whatever the hell you want them to do", she snapped at him.

He just smiled at her. "You're right, I'm sorry, but we haven't spent a lot of time together, apparently the only time you have available is during work."

"Ok, fine just one time I will forgive you. But don't expect me to..."

"Lily! I cannot believe I found you so fast," a man with a British accent said from the entranced.

Before Lily had the chance to respond, and Tony to ask who he was, the man grabbed Lily by her waist and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. Tony was standing there dumbstruck. His initial reaction was curiosity, followed by shock, but now he was just livid.

He had absolutely no idea who the man was, yet he was standing in his lobby, kissing his...his...friend.

Lily suddenly pulled away, who appeared to be as surprise as Tony was.

"Andrew! Oh my god, what are you doing here? How did you get here? When did you get here?" asked Lily.

"What, am I not allowed not to visit my own girlfriend?" asked Lily giving Lily another quick hug.

"No, it's just that I never thought that you'd be here. Especially not that fast, especially after I left London so suddenly."

"We can talk about that later. Come, let's go for lunch. You can show me around town," he said to Lily.

"Sure. No. I mean…. I can't," Lily said, finally snapping up of her shocking state. "Andrew, this is Tony, Tony this is my friend Andrew."

"Hello, pleased to meet you," said Andrew extending his hand, waiting for Tony to shake it. Tony looked at his hand reluctantly before shaking it.

"Yeah, a pleasure," said Tony

"Tony, you don't mind if we skip lunch today, and I leave with Andrew? He's new and I need to show him around town and get him settled in", said Lily

"Yeah sure, absolutely, fantastic, no problem," said Tony in a fake cheerful voice. Andrew smiled at him not knowing him well enough to know when he was being sarcastic, but Lily just glared him.

Lily took Andrew by the hands and left while Tony was left standing alone in the lobby watching Lily and Andrew disappear.

* * *

"I mean, can you believe it? And then she just left with the guy and cancelled our lunch plans. Who does that guy think he is?" Tony said while stuffing his mouth with food, chewing as if he were a twelve year old.

"Tony man, is this why you ask me to lunch? So you can whine about Lily and her boyfriend? I should have known when you called something was wrong," said Rhodey while slowly chewing on his food.

"I asked you to lunch because I didn't want to eat alone, and I'm not whining I'm just pointing out the facts."

"Tony, you know what I think? I think that you just need to talk to Lily and tell her how you feel," said Rhodey.

The moment Tony heard those words he stopped eating and dropped his fork loudly on his plate. "What do you mean admit my feelings for Lily?"

"Don't try and lie to me, I know you like her, everyone knows. The night she came back it was written all over your face. My advice is that you should talk to her," said Rhodey while setting his own fork down.

"I do not like Lily!"

"Really? How many women have you slept with since she came back?" Asked Rhodey.

"That doesn't mean anything. I have been very busy lately," Tony said in his defence.

"You've always been the same amount of busy, which never stopped you before."

"Why are we even having this conversation," said Tony, "she has her boyfriend now, so it doesn't matter."

"Tony, you need to do something. If Lily feels the same way, and I believe she does, and then you have to do something about it before her boyfriend decides to", said Rhodey in a wise tone.

That night when Tony got home, he poured himself a glass of sherry, letting everything Rhodey told me sink in. Although Tony wouldn't admit it out loud he knew Rhodey was right. He liked Lily. She was among the few to really understand him. He was willing to change for her, and he wasn't willing to let her go. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Tangled together in the silky white sheets, arms and bodies together, Lily slowly opened her eyes to meet the face that was kissing her hand. She was happy to wake up beside Andrew, but she secretly wished she would wake up next to someone else.

"Good morning love," he said to her.

"Good morning Andrew," she answered back not quite so joyful. She pulled her hand from his gasp, getting up from the bed pulling the sheets together with her.

"Andrew, it was great that you came to see me, especially only after a week, but I don't..."

"Lily please," he interrupted her, "I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I am not that dumb either. After tonight, my doubts have been confirmed."

"Your doubts?" she asked him.

"All you ever talked about while you were in London was Tony," said Andrew, "whether it was a crush as a small girl or something else when you became a woman. I could tell how much you loved him. The same way I could tell that tonight your heart wasn't with me. It never was. You left your heart with him years ago."

Lily tried to say something, tell him he was wrong, but she knew as well as he did that what he was saying was the truth. Andrew didn't deserve to be lied to, he deserved better.

"In a way I've always known the truth. After coming here, especially after tonight, I just confirmed my beliefs. You love him Lily, and if you have the slightest hope that you can be happy with him, don't hesitate a minute in going to him," he said.

"Andrew, I don't know what to say to you."

"Lily, no," he said, "I don't want you to feel sorry for me, it would just hurt me more. Besides, I'm not that bad looking, I think I can find a woman that will truly love me don't you think?"

Lily laughed sadly and moved slowly towards Andrew giving him a hug. "I will never forget what you did today, thank you!" She said in a hush tone.

Later that night Andrew packed his bags, leaving for a hotel from which he would leave tomorrow for London. Lily was left alone in her apartment sitting by the window overlooking the city and staring at the million of little light, meditating about what just happened with Andrew. Dark clouds were rolling in and she could tell that a storm was coming.

She knew that what he said was the complete truth, and yet somehow she didn't know what to do about it. She was afraid that if she told Tony about that he would laugh at her, maybe stay with her for a couple of weeks and then dumb her like he did to all his girlfriends. She thought about the kiss they shared a week ago, and how much she wanted to kiss him again.

She thought about it, and the more she thought about it the clearer her solution became. She always did her best in everything that she did, and there was no reason for her not to do her best in this situation either. She would tell Tony the truth, he deserved it, and after that depending on his reaction she would decided what to do.

She would do her best to have no regrets or lasting feelings.

* * *

Tony was on his second glass of sherry, laying back on his while listening to some AC/DC. The storm outside was getting stronger. He could see the rain hitting hard on his windows even though he couldn't hear it. He was too lost in thought to hear the pounding on his door until Jarvis told him.

"Sir, Ms. Navodlom appears to be outside the door. I would suggest that your open the door quickly, the storm is getting stronger outside," said Jarvis in his normal tone.

When hearing this Tony quickly set his glass down and ran for the door. When he opened the door he saw Lily standing there hugging herself soaking wet.

"What are you doing here," he asked her while putting his arms around her and rushing her into the house.

"I needed to see you, and it couldn't wait," she told him. He quickly went to get her a towel and wrapped it around her sitting her on the couch. However, Lily couldn't stay in one place, so she quickly got up and went to the window, with Tony following in her footsteps.

"What about your boyfriend? Where is he?" Tony asked her.

"Andrew left this morning for London, and won't be coming back," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said.

"Tony, I know that what I am going to say might sound stupid and I am sure it will also sound strange coming from me because we have known each other for so many years," she took a deep breath before continuing, "I am not that little girl you knew when she left six years ago, there is not a trace left in me of her. Maybe because I am not the same girl is why I have the courage to tell you what I am going to say." She paused for a second while looking at him. She could see the confused yet curious look in his eyes.

"I like you, I always did," she said, while looking at him directly in the eyes. "I know who you are, and how you are with girls, but even if I told you this, I do not want to be one of them. I couldn't bear it. Even so, I needed to tell you this because I don't want to have any regrets," she said as took off the towel and walked towards the door to leave.

Before she could make it half way through the door, she felt two arms holding her in place, while turning her around. Tony pulled her into a hug burying his face in her neck.

"Don't leave," he told her, "don't ever leave me again. If you leave me how do I know that you'll come back to me?"

Lily was too surprised to say anything so she just put her arm around him.

"All I want you to give me is change. I can prove that I can be different, that I want to be different for you. You are not like the others, you are so much more precious," as he said those last words he hugged her even tighter.

He slowly broke the embrace, although not quite letting go of her completely. He looked at her while she was looking back at him, a small smile forming on her face. When he looked at her beautiful face all the feelings he had kept inside just exploded.

He took her roughly yet gently by the waist and brought her closer to him while his mouth came down on hers. As soon as Lily felt his mouth on hers she couldn't help but close her eyes. She tilted her head and put her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Both his hands came around her waist, encircling his arms around her, lifting her feet from the floor.

He took her in his arms, carefully carrying her up the stairs to his bedroom, all the while not breaking the kiss. When they got into the room he set her down, still kissing her. They finally broke the kiss, gasping for air. They looked at each other for a second before Lily took the initiative and pulled him towards her for another kiss. The kiss they shared in the living room was passion, however this kissed pushed beyond the normal boundaries of passion. Their skin began to burn which just made them hug each other tighter.

He slipped his hand under her skirt, feeling her smooth skin under his palms. Her skin was cold and wet from the storm outside, and he could feel goose bumps forming in the places where he would touch her. With one swift movement he pulled her shirt over her head, slowly moving his lips from mouth to her neck from her neck to her shoulders, slowly pulling the straps from her bra with his fingers.

She broke away and looked at him, seeing the confused and unhappy look in his eyes. She smiled seductively at him, taking him by the hand slowly walking backwards towards the bed. She lay down on the silky sheets pulling him down with her. She spread her arms above her head, feeling the smooth silk under her skin before she pulled him on her with another passionate kiss.

"I love you," she whispered for the first time. At that time, at that very moment, in that dark room she told him she loved him for the very first time, giving herself completely, body and soul, to him.

* * *

**Thank you so much for all the other reviews. I really appreciate them. Ok, so tell me what you guys think about this chapter. Tell me if you guys want more description during their love scenes and I will try my best to write them. (hehe)**

**Please review! **


	9. Chapter 9 Old Ways, New Ways

**One Year Later**

The sun was streaming through the window, gently playing on her eyes, telling her it was time to wake up. She stretched, smiling at the figure asleep next to her. It's been a year since that night and Lily still couldn't believe that everything has happened so fast. She could still remember that morning after, playing in her mind like an old movie…

_She could feel his eyes on her before she even had a chance to open hers. She smiled, knowing that he would be smiling back at her. _

"_Good morning Tony," she said, finally opening her eyes. She could see him looking at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth just as she pictured it. She was fully awake, taking in her surroundings; realizations hitting her like an unexpected crushing wave. She quickly stood up from the bed, taking the silk sheets along with her._

_What had she done? She never meant to end up in bed with him last night. She only meant to tell him how she felt; she only meant to tell him what had been in her heart since she was fifteen. She hadn't meant to end up just another number on his long list. She could feel him behind her, his gaze burning into her back. _

"_Lily, what's wrong? Are you alright?" He asked in a concerned voice. She turned to look at him and she could feel the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. _

_Seeing her tears, Tony crossed the room and hugged her tightly. She couldn't bear this, she couldn't bear his hug. She gently pushed him away. _

"_This was a mistake. This should not have happened. This was not what I wanted when I came to tell you all those things last night. Even if a part of me did want this, it still shouldn't have happened," Lily said, looking at him fully in the eyes. _

"_Why shouldn't have this happened? Lily, it was beautiful and amazing, why on Earth shouldn't it have happened?" he asked._

"_Because I don't want to be just another name and number on your long list," she whispered with sadness in her voice. "I don't want to wake up one morning with Pepper holding my dry cleaning and telling me that Happy will drive me anywhere I want. I couldn't bear that."_

"_Is that why you are afraid? Do you think that would happen to you? Please look at me. Answer me." She couldn't bear to look at him, so she only managed a small nod. _

_Tony could feel his heart breaking the second she gave that nod. He slowly put his finger under her chin and made her look up at him._

"_Lily, I know that I am not good with words. It's hard for me to say what I am feeling mostly because I don't know myself, but I can tell you what I am feeling for you, and what I'm feeling when I am with you, I never felt that in my life before. You are not just another number on a long list; you are so much more than that. To me, right now, you are everything. Like I said, I am not good with words, and this might not be what you want to hear, but please, I want to change. For you, I want to change. Please, don't leave me. Tell me you'll stay by my side."_

_She couldn't say no. She couldn't bear it. So she stayed. She stayed fully aware that she might get hurt, but always thinking that it was worth it…_

The next day when she went home she found her furniture gone, her clothes moved, a single note on the floor saying: "I donated your furniture to charity and you clothes are now in my closet. Love, Tony." She was so mad at him she could have killed him, but now looking back at it all she can do is laugh.

She was getting untangled from the bed sheets, trying to get up when she felt an arm around her pushing her down on the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked her, his eyes still closed.

She leaned down and kissed his cheek, lingering for a brief moment. "I am going to take a shower, and then you are going to take a shower, and we will try not to be late for the meeting at Stark Industries," she said while getting up, not bothering to cover up with the sheets.

Once in the shower she turned on only the hot water, enjoying the burning sensation the water left on her skin. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and the cooling of the water.

"You know," Tony whispered, while kissing her shoulder. "You are going to burn your skin one day. I never understood how you can take such hot showers."

She turned to face him, giving him a passionate kiss on the mouth. After what felt like an eternity she pulled back, resting her forehead on his.

"When I was little, and my father used to beat me, the hot water was the only thing that could ease the pain and make me forget. The hotter the water was, the better I felt. I know it makes no sense what I am saying, but the burning of the water made the burning of the wounds so less painful."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, I will promise you that your father will never touch you again," Tony said, while taking her in his arms and kissing every inch of her.

* * *

"I told you we were going to be late! See, this is why from now on we will take separate showers and make sure we get where we want in time," Lily said to Tony as she was putting on her makeup… unsuccessfully. They were on their way to Stark Industries with Happy driving as fast as he could while Lily was doing her makeup. The car hit another bump which made her smudge her mascara.

"I give up," Lily said, as she threw the mascara back in her purse. She glanced sideways at Tony and she could see a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "You are really enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked, half accusing him.

"If we were to really go to the root of the problem, this is all your fault," he told her.

"How in God's name is this my fault? Clearly the problem lies with you, it always does."

"Well clearly it doesn't this time," he told her, turning in his seat so he could face her. "You are the one who designed this Jerico missile. If you hadn't designed the weapon, we wouldn't need to meet the board about it today, which means that we would not be late because we wouldn't need to be there in the first place." Tony finished his little speech with a proud smile on his face which made to indicate that he would right.

"I see so many things wrong with that logic I don't know where to begin. First of all…" Lily was suddenly interrupted by the ring of her cellphone. "Lilian Navodlom… hello Rhodey. Yes I remember. Don't worry he will be there," Lily said as she threw Tony a sideway look. "I will make sure he will be there… alright then. See you tonight!"

"What was that all about?" Tony asked her. "Where am I going to be tonight?"

"I knew you would forget," Lily sighed. "You are getting the Apogy award this year. I told you this last week. We are flying there after the board of directors meeting. Well, you are flying there. I need to go pick some stuff from home first and then I will meet you there tonight."

"Great," Tony said with fake enthusiasm. "Like I haven't received that award about twenty times before."

"Tony, please. Let's not start this conversation again. Promise me you will be on your best behaviour tonight."

"I will try, that is all I can guarantee you," he said.

Lily sighed once more and turned to look out her window. Tony was trying really hard to leave his old habits behind. She appreciated that, but sometimes it was the little things that would get to her. She turned to look back at Tony just to see him with his eyes closed and his tie slightly undone. In the window she could see Start Industries emerging in front of them.

* * *

That night when Lily entered the Stark Mansion everything was dark and quiet. She kicked off her heels, picking them off, preferring to carry them in her hands then have them for one more minute on her feet. The thought that she had to change into another pair of stilettoes and fancy gown certainly didn't improve her mood. The meeting with the directors had gone rather well. Tony was on his best behaviour, every inch the CEO that he should be. Everyone was impressed with the design and with the actual missile. All that was left was for Tony to go and do the live demo, which was scheduled for tomorrow.

Lily finally reached the closet and went over to her half. Sharing the closet with another person was something neither Lily nor Tony had done before, but somehow they seemed to have managed to coordinate. She quickly pulled off the rack a silver dress, crabbed a pair of matching heels and decided that she would do her makeup on the plane. She looked around the room one more time to make sure she didn't forget anything. Tony was already on his way and should be there ahead of her, she had sent his tux with Happy and she was hoping from the bottom of her heart that tonight would go smoothly. She knew how Tony could get when it came to awards ceremonies.

When Lily got to the ceremony she was dressed to perfection, her hair and makeup intact. She was welcomed by a sea of flashes and shouts of her name. The media all knew her and she was sorry to say that she pretty much knew every one of their names as well. She didn't have for photos and quickly made her way inside, just in time to hear Tony's introduction to the award. When she sat down at the table she was slightly out of breath, and turned to her right towards Tony. Except he wasn't there.

On her left, from the corner of her eye she could see Obadiah. When she turned to him he just shook his head, pointing towards Tony's empty chair. In that moment she heard Rhodey's voice from the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to present this year's Apogy award to Mr. Tony Stark. Tony? Come on up here," Rhodey said as he was looking around the room for Tony.

Everyone started clapping, everyone started looking for Tony. At her side, Lily could feel Obadiah taking her arm and pulling her up, nudging her towards the podium.

Lily took a deep breath, forced a smile on her face, stood up, and made her way towards the stage. Still with a smile on her face she reached to shake Rhodey's hand and give him a quick hug.

"Thanks for the save," Rhodey whispered to her before they broke the hug and he handed her the reward. She made her way to the microphone, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She took another deep breath and quickly thought of something she could say.

"This is wonderful, this is just great. Thank you all, thank you Colonel Rhodes. Well…I am not Tony Stark, clearly." She paused for a second, hearing everyone laughing, forcing herself to let out a small giggle as well. "If I were Tony I would tell what an honour it is to receive such a reward. You know, Tony… the best thing about Tony can also be the most annoying thing about Tony. He is always working no matter what. Even on a night like this. I am much honored to receive this on his behalf. Once again thank you very much, and enjoy the rest of the party."

Lily concluded the speech, and took Rhodey's arm, quickly making their way offstage. Once they were in the darkness of the offstage, Lily turned to Rhodey, all traces of her smile gone from her face.

"I am going to kill him Rhodey. This time I am really going to kill him. How could he do this? Where is he?"

"Lily, just calm down. Let me handle him. Why don't you go to the party and try to have a good time. Otherwise people would start questioning where you went off to as well," Rhodey reasoned with her.

Lily closet her eyes for a second, trying to calm herself. When she opened her eyes she handed the award to Rhodey.

"Find him! I'm going to be at the party. Call me when you got a hold of him. Also, tell him not to show his face here. The media would just ask more questions, and it's going to be a PR nightmare to deal with it all."

She turned towards the exit, once more forcing a smile on her face.

* * *

When she exited the building, she was glad of the cool night air that hit her face. Rhodey had called her a while ago and told her that he had found Tony playing the dice at the casino and that they had agreed that he would meet her in the car. Lily was so angry that she could feel her nails biting into the palm of her hand. It was a very bad habit that she had. Every time she would get angry, she would dig her nails into her palm hoping to control her anger.

She would kill him. She knew that she would kill him once she laid her eyes on him. As she got closer to the car, she could see Tony talking to a blonde woman who was holding a small recorder in her hand.

_Go figure_, thought Lily, _another reporter_.

When she got closer, Lily could hear what they were saying.

"Ever lose an hour of sleep in your life?" The reporter asked Tony.

"I'd be willing to lose a few with you," Tony said back to her.

Lily almost stopped in her tracks when she heard this but something inside her made her continue walking, her posture suddenly becoming straighter and her head higher. Happy saw her approaching and let out a soft cough. Lily threw him an angry look which immediately made him lower his head. Tony turned towards her with a stretched arm which he wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He could feel her resistance and the cold state that she was giving him.

"Lily, I was just giving this lovely reporter a quick interview," Tony said, looking back and forth between the two women.

"Yes, I heard," Lily said turning towards the reporter with an ice smile on her face.

"You must be the famous Lily; you two make quite the power couple. My name is..."

"I didn't ask," Lily quickly said, not letting her reporter finishing her sentence. Lily gave Tony one last look before she unwrapped his arm from her waist and walked towards the car.

Once inside the car she kicked off her heels and waited for Tony. She didn't have to wait long before Tony was sitting comfortably beside her and they were on their way.

"Lily..." Tony started off.

"If you say one more syllable I swear I will start to beat you. Don't even talk to me right now Tony. I am deadly serious," Lily said as she looked at Tony one last time before closing her eyes.

Tony knew better than to push her, so he decided to remain silent until she was ready to talk to him. He knew he crossed the line tonight. He was looking at her when something red in the palm of her hand caught his eye. He could see the red marks her nails had made in her skin. Mentally he started kicking himself. He reached out to take her hand but Lily pulled away. Tony had quicker reflexes than her so he managed to take a hold of her hand. He turned it over and softly starting pressing his fingers over the red marks.

Lily had not spoken a word during the entire trip, and once the Royce pulled in front of the Malibu mansion Lily quick got off and started walking towards the house. She stopped in the middle of the living room, feeling Tony right behind her.

"A casino? Rhodey presents you with an award tonight and you are wasting your money at a fucking casino? You have lost your mind," Lily said as she suddenly turned to face him, the anger visible in her eyes.

"Lily, give me chance to..." Tony started saying.

"Do you have any idea how you humiliated us tonight? How you humiliated your entire company? Tell me Tony, what kind of message did you send by doing that? What kind of message did you send to Rhodey, your best friend?"

"You know how many of those awards I have, I just..."

"And what about that reporter? Do you really miss your old life that much? If you do tell me, tell me so at least I will know what to expect," she said, now tears threatening to form in her eyes. She took a deep breath trying to control her tears. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her cry right now. "I am too tired to deal with this right now," she told him. She slowly started walking towards the bedroom but not before taking a last look at him.

"Why are you overreacting like this Lily?" He shot back at her. "I told you earlier. I have tons of these awards lying around here, the ceremony wasn't that important. Besides, you were there and you took care of everything. I just went for a while to the casino to blow off some steam. Seriously you are making such a big deal out of this."

"A big deal? I am making a big deal out of this? Tony, I couldn't care less about some damn award that you didn't pick up. What hurts me is the fact that you don't realize how much you hurt the people around you. Rhodey was so excited to present you with this award tonight. He talked about it the entire week. He was excited about it because you are his best friend, and he considered it an honour to be able to present his friend with this trophy," she closed her eyes for a moment trying to keep her anger under control.

"What about me Tony? Do you have any idea how much it hurt to hear you say those things to that reporter? You would be prepared to lose a few hours of sleep with her? A FEW HOURS OF SLEEP WITH HER?" Lily shouted the last part, not caring how insane she must appear at the moment. "By all means, if you are planning on doing that tell me. Tell me so I know to packs my bags, or would you prefer that I kick her out of her bed? I have done it before, I would have no problem in doing that again," she said to him all anger lost from her voice, what remained was just coldness.

"Lily, I think you are overreacting. It was just something I said. I didn't even think about. I didn't mean it," he tried to reason with her.

"That is precisely why I am so hurt Tony," she whispered, her voice lost in the big room, in the big house. "You didn't think about. You never think about it. You always do it, and at the end of the day you expect us to be there picking up all the pieces you ripped off, hoping that we could understand, hoping that we could understand _you_. I have known you for so many years; I have come to understand you better than anyone else. I can tell what you are thinking just by the way you look at something, but Tony... you got to the point where even I can't understand you anymore. Maybe I don't want to understand you anymore."

She turned back up the stairs once more, climbing each step slowly and deliberately.

"You know, tonight you should have made us all a favour and just disappear. It would have been better if you hadn't shown up at all," Lily told him, her back turned to him as she slowly started making her way towards the bedroom, leaving Tony in the darkness of the room.

* * *

When Lily woke up the next morning the first thing she did was look at the spot next to her. She reached out to touch it. She could feel the cold fabric under her hand. She wasn't sure if Tony even came to bed last night.

"Miss Navodlom," Jarvis interrupted her. "Miss Potts and Mr. Stane are downstairs. They wish to speak with you."

"This early in the morning," Lily said, her voice rasped from sleep. "What do they want at this hour?"

"Miss, I inform you that it is late afternoon. You have been asleep for more than twelve hours."

Lily looked at the clock next to the bed and found that was Jarvis told her was true. She had slept more than twelve hours and it was now late afternoon. Her mind quickly flashed to Tony, wondering if his Jerico presentation went alright. After their fight last night, she hoped everything went smooth.

"Tell them I am coming down right now Jarvis," Lily told him as she was putting on her robe. When she got downstairs she could see Obadiah sitting down on the couch with a drink in his hand while Pepper was pacing back and forth in front of him talking quickly on the phone. As soon as Pepper saw her she hanged up the phone and nodded to Obadiah towards her.

Lily cautiously approached them, as them now both stood in front of her, with a solemn look on their faces. Lily saw that Pepper's eyes were red.

"What happened you two, why the long faces?" Lily asked. "Who died?" She said the last question with a tiny smile on her face. She saw that neither Pepper nor Obadiah said anything and she was well aware of the look that passed between them. Lily's smile quickly disappeared, and just like a flash of lighting in the sky, she knew why they were both so quiet.

"It's Tony, isn't it," she said out of breath. "Something happened to Tony."

"Lily," Obadiah said as he approached her, placing his hand on her small shoulder. "Tony, and all the others, they... they were attacked after the presentation was over. Rhodey managed to escape but all the other were killed. And Tony... well, we don't know what happened to Tony. All we knew is that they took him, and we don't know if he is alive."

Everything flashed before Lily's eyes. They say that life flashes before your eyes when you are about to die, but for Lily, her life passed before her in that very moment. Everything... her childhood, her father, her mother, Tony, their fight... Tony. Just as quickly as they had begun, the images finished playing and she was left completely surrounded by darkness.

* * *

**I am so sorry for the late update. I haven't forgotten about this story, it's just that things have been so crazy lately. Please review, I will try to update as soon as I can. Also please PM if any of you are interesting in being a BETA, I really need one. **


	10. Chapter 10 Three Months and One Secret

**One Month Later – Somewhere in the Afghan desert**

Tony was lying on the ragged bed, his arms behind his back, staring at the ceiling. His right hand moved subconsciously tapping the arc reactor in his chest. _Tap tap tap tap..._

"You know," said Yinsen, "the fact that you will continue that annoying tapping won't mean that the wires in your chest will suddenly disappear."

Tony stopped what he was doing and turned his head towards Yinsen, who was shaving, looking into the broken mirror softly humming a tune to himself.

"Sorry," Tony said, "I was just lost in thought. Sometimes I don't even realize I am doing it."

"You know Stark, they are not going to be playing this game with you for much longer. I think they have reached their limit, and believe me they are not going to take no for an answer," Yinsen told him, his voice solemn and serious.

"What else can they do, kill me? Maybe I will welcome that. I am already wired to this car battery, I am already a living machine," Tony said angrily back to Yinsen.

"You only think that because you haven't thought everything through. You only say that because you think you have nothing to lose anymore, but I can assure you that these people will always find that one thing you have left and they will make sure it's destroyed. All that, just so they can see you suffer." Yinsen finished his speech and looked back into the broken mirror.

Tony turned away from him, thinking whether or not he should believe Yinsen. Thinking if he really had anything else to lose. All of a sudden Tony heard voices outside and the door opened with a loud bang against the wall. Like many of the other times before, Tony got up and put his hands behind his back.

"Mr. Stark," said the leader, always the same man. "I hope you have had the time to think over our little proposition."

"My answer is the same as always. I would rather have you kill me than help you build those missiles," Tony spat back in his face.

The man only looked at Tony, slightly smiling at him. That was odd. Usually when Tony said no, he would fly into a rage, commanding his men to drag Tony and have him tortured. But this time he was only smiling which made Tony all the more nervous.

"I was afraid you would say that," the man calmly said to Tony, "which I why I brought you this." The man took out of his pocket a newspaper article, handing it to Tony to read.

The article was recent, from an American newspaper. Tony could feel his stomach drop. It was a picture of Lily, a picture taken months ago at a gala they had both attended. In the picture Lily could be seen smiling at the camera with a champagne glass in her hand. Tony looked up in disgust, the smile still present on the man's face.

"What have you done?" Tony asked in a whisper.

"So far, nothing. But if you continue to refuse us your help, I can assure you we can do something about it Mr. Stark. After all, I hear that it is she who designed the Jerico weapon. I am sure that if we asked her, she would know how to put one together."

"You would never be able to get to her," Tony told him.

"Mr Stark, we got you didn't we? And you were surrounded by the military and tons of armoured steel. What makes you think we won't be able to get to her?"

Tony said nothing. He simply looked down at Lily's picture, wishing with all his heart that this nightmare would be over.

"Let me put this in simple terms Mr. Stark," the man said once more. "If you refuse to build the missile we will simply ask your little girlfriend to do it, and believe me when I say that we will not be as gentle with her as we were with you. Think about Mr. Stark."

The man gave Tony one last look before turning and leaving Tony and Yinsen alone once again. Yinsen came to stand behind Tony, looking at the picture behind his shoulder.

"Do you understand now what I mean Stark?" Yinsen asked Tony as he moved to stand in front of Tony. Yinsen looked at the picture one more time. "She is very beautiful Tony. Just build the missile. I am sure you know that even if you do build it they will kill you, but at least she will be safe," Yinsen told him.

Tony just looked at Yinsen.

"No Yinsen. I will not build the missile. We will not die in this cave all alone. We are going to escape," Tony said with a sudden determination in his voice. He took the newspaper article, carefully folding it and putting it in his jacket. He was determined that he would not die in this cave, cold and alone and leave Lily behind all on her own. Besides, he still owned her a big apology for the fight they had before he left, and he intended to carry his apology through. He was determined to see Lily again.

* * *

**Two Months Later – Malibu, California**

Lily was sitting behind Tony's desk, overlooking the entire Stark Industries. It's been three months since Tony got kidnapped in Afghanistan and nobody knew anything about him. No phone calls, no money, not even a ransom request. It had been a surprise for everyone, including Lily, to find out that Tony had left with his attorney the documents necessary that stated that in case anything happened to him, Lily would get full control over his assets and over Stark Industries. Which is what Lily was doing at the moment. For the last three months Lily had showed up at Stark Industries, ready to work, trying to keep everything from falling apart. Everyone was saying what an amazing job she was doing of keeping everything together but they know that inside she was falling to pieces.

Lily turned back to the papers in her hand, trying to see if she could get some proper work done. She was interrupted when she heard the office door opening. She saw Obadiah standing there, with Pepper following behind him. Lily sighed. She knew what he was there for.

"We need to talk," Obadiah said, walking in the room sitting beside Lily on the desk.

"I know what this is about Obadiah. The answer is no. The answer will always be no," Lily managed to say between her teeth.

"It been three months Lily," he said. "If the kidnappers had any intentions of contacting us they would have done it already. You know as well as I do that the chances of Tony being alive are practically nonexistent."

"I am not declaring him dead Obadiah, I told you that before. Until I see his body I refuse to declare him death. The search will continue until Tony appears, and I don't care what you or any other person has to say about it. Now, is that all? Because I really need to go over these papers."

Obadiah took the hint as he stormed angrily out of the room. Pepper closed the door and made her way towards Lily.

"I think you are doing the right thing," Pepper said. "None of us want to see Tony declared dead. We must keep the hope alive."

"By "us" you mean me, you and Rhodey. Everyone else, the board, even Stane, wants Tony to be declared dead. The minute he is dead they will start eating each other for every single piece of asset," Lily said.

"Tony left everything to you," Pepper reminded her.

"You know as well as I do Pepper that is they decide to make that document invalid they could. I am not family, I am not anything. They would take everything back," Lily told her.

Pepper sighed before giving Lily the folder she had in her hands. "You need to look over this," she told Lily. "Also, you mother is outside, she wants to see you."

"My mother?" Lily asked as she looked up from her papers. "I have literally seen my mother two times in the past year. What could she possible want with me now?"

"I don't know," Pepper said. "She doesn't look so good though. Maybe you should really see her."

"Alright, tell her to come in," Lily said as she got up from the chair and made her way towards the couch.

"Right this way Mrs. Navodlom," said Pepper leading Lily's mother into the room. Pepper smiled and asked Lily if she wanted anything else before leaving the room. Her mother stood there looking at her briefly before making her way to the couch and sitting down.

"Hi mom," said Lily, "I have a lot of stuff to look over, so please if you could be brief."

"I just came to see how you are doing Lily, I thought that after what happened you might have at least reach out to me, to help you," her mother told her.

Lily couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You wanted to help me, you wanted me reach out to you? How can you say that? How can you dare say that?" Lily asked her. Her mother watched her with an unchanging expression.

"All those years you have stood by, and let my father treat me the way he did, all that time you did nothing to stop it," Lily almost yelled, looking straight at her mother.

"You don't understand," her mother said, "you never understood any of it."

Her mother sighed and looked out the window. "I knew we should have just left you at an orphanage that day, we should have never taken you in."

Lily stared at her mother for a moment unsure of what she just heard. "What did you just say?" Lily asked her.

Her mother turned her head towards her, an horrified expression on her face.

"I'm not your daughter?" Lily asked again.

Her mother turned her gaze towards the floor, not bearing to look at Lily any longer and slowly shook her head. "We found you on our doorstep," her mother whispered. "We just found you there one morning. We never wanted children, we never wanted any children but then you turned up and you looked at me with so much love in your little eyes...and I... I wasn't able to just leave you in an orphanage, and I guess perhaps I wasn't able to be the mother you deserved either. I'm sorry Lily, I never meant for you to find out in this manner."

Lily starred at her for a moment and slowly got up. She made her way to the desk got her purse and walked out of the office. She could see Pepper staring at her with a look of concern from behind her desk and she could faintly hear her mother's voice calling her name, but she didn't stop. She didn't stop and she kept on walking.

* * *

It was already dark outside when Lily got to the mansion. All the lights were out and she didn't bother telling Jarvis to turn them back on. She reached for the phone in the dark and dialed the only number she could think off. The person on the other line picked up after two rings.

"Hello," answered Anna in an agitated tone. She knew already who was calling.

"Anna," Lily whispered, "I really need you to come over, I really need you?"

"Lily, you told me you were fine. You assured me time and time again that you were doing fine."

"This isn't about Tony, this is something else. Please Anna, I need you," Lily begged.

For a moment everything was quiet on the other line. "I'll take the next plane out. I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise."

Lily hanged up and sat down on the couch, curling herself into a ball. Anna. Her best friend Anna. Throughout the years that's what Anna remained, her most dear friend. When Lily decided to came back from London, Anna decided to stay. She had already met someone there and had a pretty good life. Anna was the first to call Lily when she heard about Tony. She had offered to catch the first flight and be with Lily, but Lily assured her that everything was fine. That she could handle being by herself here. But now, after what her mother told her, she felt that she was losing it. She needed someone there with her. The first person she would have gone to would have been Tony, and it hurt her so much knowing that he wasn't there.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment. At least it felt like a brief moment to Lily. She opened her eyes and she could see the bright Malibu sun shining over the endless sapphire sea.

She could see Pepper from the corner of her eye looking at her with an anxious expression on her face.

"I am so glad you are up Lily," Pepper said. "I wasn't sure if I should wake you or not but..."

"What is the matter Pepper?" Lily asked her sitting up. She could feel a strong headache coming on.

"Well, the first thing is that Anna called and wanted me to let you know that she already landed in Malibu, and the second is..." Lily could see Pepper's anxiety on her face.

"Pepper, what happened?"

Pepper let out a deep breath. "They found him Lily. Rhodey is bringing him home."

* * *

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